Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 3,493 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,869 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GTS Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 19.4% during the second quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 12.7% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 24,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,255 shares during the period. Delta Asset Management LLC TN raised its position in Hershey by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,120,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,549,000 after buying an additional 34,873 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on HSY. Barclays cut their price target on Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $179.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $179.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.29. The stock has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a one year low of $161.43 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 79.23%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.